Florence King Quotes

A ham is simply any actor who has not been successful in repressing his natural instincts.

Acting is a child's prerogative. Children are born to act. Usually, people grow up and out of it. Actors always seem to me to be people who never quite did grow out of it.

Gemma Arterton in 'The Master Builder' at the Almeida - she was absolutely brilliant. Ibsen is difficult and quite hard to follow, but she just brings the stage to life.

The thing that most critics miss about Faulkner is that his famous storytelling voice is, in fact, a standard Southern storytelling voice that is typical of the Gulf Coast - Mississippi, Alabama and so on.

I feel like I'm a good actor, but I wouldn't call myself a gifted actor.

Well, I'm from the South originally. I grew up in South Carolina definitely learning about manners and being proper and having to go to cotillions.

I like to do theater and hopefully be effective. Most actors, at least contemporary actors of my generation, can't do it. They don't have the chops.

I've had a great love for Al Pacino's work since I first saw him on the stage doing 'The Indian Wants the Bronx' in the early '70s. His work is remarkable. He's the real thing.

In 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' I couldn't take my eyes off Judith Anderson as Big Mama.

Christopher Walken could literally read a phone book and fill a theater, and it would be interesting to watch. I've often wanted to produce a show and ask him if he'd do that. All week long, he could read the As on Tuesday, the Bs on Wednesday; we'd see how long it would last.

I guess nobody can teach you the knack, or whatever it is, that helps you come to life on stage.

The first important role was a Broadway lead I did called 'The Royal Hunt Of The Sun' by Peter Shaffer, the guy who did 'Equus' and 'Amadeus.' Many of the important roles that I got later on were because the guy who was going to hire me was in that audience and had his mind blown. I tend to do that. I blow people's minds with my performances.

I had family in Carolina who were very hood and talked differently in this sort of Southern cadence.

I bring a lot of 'y'all' up to New York with me.

I feel there are only well acted or badly acted roles and no such thing as a good actor or actress.

When you come from a star family in the South, you're expected to be really good in dance and fights. It's really important that you open up as an actor in front of the camera.

To perform on stage, you have to run through your paces till you are perfect. Despite the script and director, the actor makes or breaks the play.

I always liked performing. I always liked being in front of people. That's one of the things I loved about law; we had mock trials, and I got to go up and state my case. But I took an acting class, and after my first class, I was hooked.

I've realized that the only thing I'm interested in is the performance. If the performance is right, then I'm happy. You offer up the dialogue and then the performance comes around.

Sometimes you can do Shakespeare and you're still not an actor.

When we play the fool, how wideThe theatre expands! beside,How long the audience sits before us!How many prompters! what a chorus!

There was a little part of me that always felt like I was going to be an actress, but I never acted when I was growing up. I was a dancer. That's all I did, all day, all my life. Maybe this was just where I was meant to be, and somehow I ended up here, but it just felt right. As soon as I started acting, it just felt like it was meant to be.

Lots of people have expressed consternation that I haven't gotten rid of Southern accent, but I just never saw any reason to lose the flavor that I grew up with. I enjoy saying some things with a Southern accent.

There's a very fine line between underacting and not acting at all. And not acting is what a lot of actors are guilty of. It amazes me how some of these little numbers with dreamy looks and a dead pan are getting away wit it. I'd hate to see them on stage with a dog act.

Everyone has to do the same work as actors - I teach acting. But there are those people who come on, and there's just something about them in and above themselves that has to do with chemistry and electricity - this aura about them. And that's unmistakable. Do I have that? Yeah, I think I have that.